Reform of teacher education in China: a survey of policies for systemic change

ABSTRACT

This paper adopts an inductive analytical approach to reviewing the major state policies to reform teacher education in China. Based on the perceived impact on teachers and teacher education, 21 policy documents have been selected for this review. Five themes emerge in the analysis, which include: Expansion of teacher education by institutional diversification; structural changes through upgrading, merging and eliminating institutions and school; innovations on modes of teacher preparation, curricula and teaching practicum; certification and examinations; and strengthening teacher supply for the rural schools. The paper also analyses the contextual and systemic factors that affect the formulation and implementation of reform policies in teacher education and critically reflect the effect of these policies on Chinese teacher education.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher education
• educational policy
• education reform
• China

Acknowledgments

The author express their gratitude to the Teacher Studies and Development Project at the Education University of Hong Kong and the International Centre for Teacher Studies and Development at the Beijing Normal University for their support of the research and writing of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The percentage is calculated according to the statistic made available at the website of the Ministry of Education, China. http://www.moe.gov.cn/s78/A03/moe_560/jytjsj_2017/.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China under the Research Grant for Research Projects of the Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences (Number 14JJD880001), and by the 2019 Comprehensive Discipline Construction Fund of the Faculty of Education at Beijing Normal University (Number 2019LWFB012) .

Notes on contributors

Juyan Ye

Juyan Ye is an associate professor at the Centre for Teacher Education Research, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China. Her research interests include teacher identity, teacher education, sociology of teachers, policy studies in education, and foundation of education. E-mail address: [email protected]

Xudong Zhu

Xudong Zhu is a professor and director of the Centre for Teacher Education Research, Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China. His research interests include teacher education, policy studies in education, and comparative education. E-mail address: [email protected]

Leslie N. K. Lo

Leslie N. K. Lo is a chair professor in the Faculty of Education, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China. His research interests include teacher education, policy studies in education, school improvement and educational leadership. E-mail address: [email protected]